Book II

American Literature

Table of Contents

New England Transcendentalism

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Henry David Thoreau

Herman Melville

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Walt Whitman

Emily Dickinson

Mark Twain

Stephen Crane

Henry James

New England Transcendentalism

1. It is the summit of American Romanticism.

2. Leaders: Emerson and Thoreau 3. Manifesto: Nature written by

Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1836, which is regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism.

4. Club: Transcendentalist Club 5. Journal: The Dial 6. Sources: German idealism,

Transcendentalism, and American Puritanism.

7. Major features ( ideas): 1) Placing emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. --a new way of looking at the world

2) Stressing the importance of the individual—self-reliance. --a new way of looking at man 3) Offering fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the spirit or God. (Nature was not purely matter. It was alive, filled with God’s overwhelming presence. It was the garment of the Oversoul.) “The Universe is composed of Nature and the Soul.” “Spirit is present everywhere.” The individual soul communed with the Oversoul and was therefore divine.

8. InfluenceNew England Transcendentalism

was important to American literature.

It inspired a whole new generation of famous authors as Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman and Dickinson.

And it inspired one of America’s most prolific literary periods in its history.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

American philosopher, poet and essayist

The most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism.

Works Essays:

1. Nature 18362. American Scholar 18373. Divinity School Address 18384. Essay (two series) 1841 18445. Representative Men 18506. English Traits 1856

7. The Conduct of Life 18608. Society and Solitude 18709. Letters and Social Aims 1876 10. Self-Reliance 1841

Poems:1.Poems 18472.May Day 18673.Concord Hymn 18374.The Rhodora 18465.The Humble Bee 18476.Days 1857

Life

Waldo was born May 25, 1803, the fourth of eight children.

His father, William Emerson, distinguished minister of First Church, Boston, had drawn his congregation with him into Unitarianism.

His father died when Waldo was eight, leaving the family without financial support.

His mother Ruth sold her husband's library (which became the Boston Athenaeum), took in boarders and worked as a maid. They often had not enough to eat. Waldo and his brother Charles had only one overcoat between them. Taunting schoolfellows asked, "Whose turn is it to wear the great-coat today?"

Waldo entered Harvard at 14. He began then to keep a journal, a practice he continued for the rest of his life, later calling its volumes—all long since published—his "savings bank."

After graduation from the

College in 1821, at the age

of 18, Emerson taught

school for his uncle in

Waltham and later opened

a finishing school for girls,

but he did not enjoy school

teaching.

In 1825, Emerson gave up his teaching to enter Harvard Divinity School to study theology.

Both Emerson’s older brother and his youngest died in 1834 and 1836 after Emerson himself had recovered from two years of tuberculosis in 1827.

In 1829 Emerson was ordained as junior pastor of Boston’s prestigious Second Unitarian Church in 1829.

That same year he married Ellen Tucker who died only 6 months later.

Yet in 1832, in a radical departure from common practice, Emerson resigned his pulpit and never served another congregation.

That same year Emerson toured Europe, meeting such major English poets as Wordsworth, Carlyle, and Coleridge. Through his acquaintance with these men he became closely involved with German idealism and Transcendentalism.

In 1833 Emerson began a new career as a lecturer. He made Concord his home and lived there for the rest of his life.

In 1835 he married Lydia Jackson. Lydian, as he called her, took a keen interest in his ideas and his work. They had four children. The loss of their first, Waldo, who died in 1842 at the age of five, was very hard. Their other children were Ellen, Edith and Edward Waldo.

The sum-up of Emerson’s ideas

The transcendence of the Oversoul. Emerson advocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent God in nature. In his opinion, man is made in the image of God and is just a little less than Him. His Nature, which is generally regarded as the Bible of Transcendentalism, records his “moment of ecstasy” （妙悟时刻） , the moment of losing one’s individuality.

The infinitude of man and human perfectibility. Emerson believes that the possibilities for man to develop and improve himself are infinite. Man should and could be self-reliant. Everyone makes himself by making his world, and he makes the world by making himself. The world exists for the individual and man should decide upon their own destinies. The regeneration of the individual leads to the regeneration of society. Emerson’s idea was an expression of the spirit of his time, the hope that man can become the best person he could hope to be.

Nature as symbolic of God. In the eyes of Emerson, “nature is the vehicle of thought,” and “particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts”. Thus everything bears a secondary and an ulterior sense. A flowing river indicates the ceaseless motion of the universe. The seasons correspond to the life span of man. The ant is the image of man himself, small in body but mighty in heart. This is why Emerson called his most important work Nature rather than anything else.

Emerson’s aesthetics Emerson believes that good poetry and true art

should teach, serve as a moral purification. Emerson emphasizes ideas, symbols and

imaginative words. Emerson advocates that American writers

should write about America here and now. America itself is a long poem that is worthy of celebrating.

Emerson possesses a cheerful optimism. He believes that there is force that can make the bad good and the good better. Good is a good doctor, and Bad is a better doctor. Angels must always be stronger than demons.

Emerson’s influence Emerson’s importance in the intellectual

history of America lies in the fact that he embodied a new nation’s desire and struggle to assert its own identity in its formative period.

His aesthetics brought about a revolution in American literature. It marked the birth of true American poetry.

He called for an independent culture, which represented the desire of the whole nation to develop a culture of its own.

Nature , the Bible of Transcendentalism “The American Scholar”, regarded as

“Declaration of Intellectual Independence” “The Poet”, the job of a poet to the seer, the

sayer and the namer “Self-Reliance”, the importance of cultivating

oneself “Each and All”, a poem in celebration of the

wholeness. “Each is part of all, and all is in each.”

“Rhodora”, a poem that argues that beauty is its own excuse of being

Evaluation

During his lifetime he was considered one of the two or three best writers in America, and certainly the most influential among his contemporaries.

Thoreau, Whitman, Dickinson, Hawthorne, Melville, Frost and Wallace Stevens and many others were indebted to him in varying degrees.

His influence extended beyond his own century.

His reputation has His reputation has fallen somewhat in the fallen somewhat in the present century. present century.

4) Questions

a) What did Emerson and Thoreau deny?

b) What did they strongly affirm?c) How has Transcendentalism been

defined?

d) What is “Understanding”/ “Reason”?

e) Why was he not invited back to Harvard for 30 years?

f) How did Emerson envisioned religion?

g) Where did Emerson’s greatest fame come from?

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)(1817-1862)

American writer, American writer, philosopher, and philosopher, and naturalistnaturalist

American essayist American essayist and poetand poet

Leader of American Leader of American TranscendentalismTranscendentalism

WorksWorks1. Walden, or Life in the Woods 18541. Walden, or Life in the Woods 1854

2. Civil Disobedience 18492. Civil Disobedience 1849

3. Life Without Principle 18633. Life Without Principle 1863

4. A Week on the Concord and Merrimack 4. A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers 1849Rivers 1849

5. The Maine Woods 18645. The Maine Woods 1864

6. Cape Cod 18656. Cape Cod 1865

7. Slavery in Massachusetts 1854 7. Slavery in Massachusetts 1854

LifeLife Henry David Thoreau was born on Henry David Thoreau was born on

July 12, 1817, in Concord, July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts. Massachusetts.

Thoreau grew up in Concord and Thoreau grew up in Concord and attended Harvard, where he was attended Harvard, where he was known as a serious though known as a serious though unconventional scholar. During his unconventional scholar. During his Harvard years he was exposed to Harvard years he was exposed to the writings of Ralph Waldo the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who later became his Emerson, who later became his chief mentor and friend. chief mentor and friend.

In 1845 Thoreau built himself a In 1845 Thoreau built himself a small cabin on the shore of Walden small cabin on the shore of Walden Pond, near Concord; there he Pond, near Concord; there he remained for more than two years, remained for more than two years, “living deep and sucking out all “living deep and sucking out all the marrow of life.” Wishing to the marrow of life.” Wishing to lead a life free of materialistic lead a life free of materialistic pursuits, he supported himself by pursuits, he supported himself by growing vegetables and by growing vegetables and by surveying and doing odd jobs in surveying and doing odd jobs in the nearby village. the nearby village.

He devoted most of his time to observing He devoted most of his time to observing nature, reading, and writing, and he kept nature, reading, and writing, and he kept a detailed journal of his observations, a detailed journal of his observations, activities, and thoughts. It was from this activities, and thoughts. It was from this journal that he later distilled his journal that he later distilled his masterpiece, masterpiece, Walden.Walden.

One of Thoreau’s most important works, One of Thoreau’s most important works, the essay “Civil Disobedience” (1849), the essay “Civil Disobedience” (1849), grew out of an overnight stay in prison as grew out of an overnight stay in prison as a result of his conscientious refusal to a result of his conscientious refusal to pay a poll tax that supported the Mexican pay a poll tax that supported the Mexican War.War.

Thoreau’s advocacy of civil Thoreau’s advocacy of civil disobedience as a means for the disobedience as a means for the individual to protest those actions individual to protest those actions of his government that he of his government that he considers unjust has had a wide-considers unjust has had a wide-ranging impact—on the British ranging impact—on the British Labour movement, the passive Labour movement, the passive resistance independence resistance independence movement led by Gandhi in India, movement led by Gandhi in India, and the nonviolent civil-rights and the nonviolent civil-rights movement led by Martin Luther movement led by Martin Luther King in the United States. King in the United States.

After graduation, Thoreau worked for a After graduation, Thoreau worked for a time in his father’s pencil shop and time in his father’s pencil shop and taught at a grammar school, but in taught at a grammar school, but in 1841 he was invited to live in the 1841 he was invited to live in the Emerson household, where he Emerson household, where he remained intermittently until 1843.remained intermittently until 1843.

He served as handyman and assistant He served as handyman and assistant to Emerson, helping to edit and to Emerson, helping to edit and contributing poetry and prose to the contributing poetry and prose to the transcendentalist magazine, transcendentalist magazine, The Dial.The Dial.

Thoreau is also significant as a Thoreau is also significant as a naturalist who emphasized the naturalist who emphasized the dynamic ecology of the natural dynamic ecology of the natural world. Above all, Thoreau’s quiet, world. Above all, Thoreau’s quiet, one-man revolution in living at one-man revolution in living at Walden has become a symbol of the Walden has become a symbol of the willed integrity of human beings, willed integrity of human beings, their inner freedom, and their their inner freedom, and their ability to build their own lives. ability to build their own lives. Thoreau’s writings, including his Thoreau’s writings, including his journals, were published in 20 journals, were published in 20 volumes in 1906.volumes in 1906.  

EvaluationEvaluation

He became one of the three He became one of the three great American authors of the great American authors of the 19th century who had not 19th century who had not contemporary readers and contemporary readers and yet became great in this yet became great in this century, the other two being century, the other two being Herman Melville and Emily Herman Melville and Emily Dickinson.Dickinson.

His influence goes beyond His influence goes beyond America. His statue was placed America. His statue was placed in the hall of Fame in New York in in the hall of Fame in New York in 1969 alongside those of other 1969 alongside those of other great Americans.great Americans.

Thoreau has been regarded as a Thoreau has been regarded as a prophet of individualism in prophet of individualism in American literature. He was very American literature. He was very critical of modern civilization. critical of modern civilization. “Civilized man is the salve of “Civilized man is the salve of matter.”matter.”

Comment on WaldenComment on Walden

Between the end of March 1845 Between the end of March 1845 and July4, Thoreau constructed a and July4, Thoreau constructed a cabin on the shore of Walden Pond, cabin on the shore of Walden Pond, near Concord. There he lived alone near Concord. There he lived alone until September 1847, supplying until September 1847, supplying his needs by his own labor and his needs by his own labor and developing and testing his developing and testing his transcendental philosophy of transcendental philosophy of individualism, self-reliance and individualism, self-reliance and material economy for the sake of material economy for the sake of spiritual wealth.spiritual wealth.

He sought to reduce his physical He sought to reduce his physical needs to a minimum, in order to needs to a minimum, in order to free himself for study, thought, and free himself for study, thought, and observation of nature, himself. observation of nature, himself. Therefore his cabin was a simple Therefore his cabin was a simple room and he wore the cheapest room and he wore the cheapest essential clothing and restricted his essential clothing and restricted his diet to what he found. diet to what he found.

Walden can be many things and can Walden can be many things and can be read on more than one level. But be read on more than one level. But it is, first and foremost, a book it is, first and foremost, a book about man, what he is, and what he about man, what he is, and what he should be and must be.should be and must be.

Thoreau has faith in the inner Thoreau has faith in the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man. He holds that the most of man. He holds that the most important thing for men to do important thing for men to do with their lives is to be self-with their lives is to be self-sufficient and strive to achieve sufficient and strive to achieve person spiritual perfection. person spiritual perfection. Thoreau was very critical of Thoreau was very critical of modern civilization. “Civilized modern civilization. “Civilized man is the slave of matter,” he man is the slave of matter,” he said on one occasion.said on one occasion.

Considered one of the all-time great Considered one of the all-time great books, books, WaldenWalden is a record of Thoreau's is a record of Thoreau's two year experiment of living at Walden two year experiment of living at Walden Pond. The writer's chief emphasis is on Pond. The writer's chief emphasis is on the simplifications and enjoyment of life the simplifications and enjoyment of life now. It is regarded as now. It is regarded as

1. a nature book. 1. a nature book. 2. a do-it-yourself guide to simple life. 2. a do-it-yourself guide to simple life. 3. a satirical criticism of modern life 3. a satirical criticism of modern life

and living. and living. 4. a belletristic achievement. 4. a belletristic achievement. 5. a spiritual book.5. a spiritual book.

The Reputation of Henry The Reputation of Henry David Thoreau David Thoreau Emerson: "He was bred to no Emerson: "He was bred to no

profession; he never went to profession; he never went to church; he never voted; he church; he never voted; he refused to pay a tax to the State; refused to pay a tax to the State; he ate no flesh; he drank no wine; he ate no flesh; he drank no wine; he never knew the use of tobacco; he never knew the use of tobacco; and, though a naturalist, he used and, though a naturalist, he used neither trap nor gun." neither trap nor gun."

Ellery Channing (poet, friend, and Ellery Channing (poet, friend, and biographer): "Thoreau was the biographer): "Thoreau was the Poet-Naturalist, a sweet singer of Poet-Naturalist, a sweet singer of woodland beauty." woodland beauty."

Frank Sanborn (young Abolitionist Frank Sanborn (young Abolitionist friend and biographer): He was a friend and biographer): He was a Concord warrior, a later embattled Concord warrior, a later embattled farmer." farmer."

John Macy (early Socialist critic): "A John Macy (early Socialist critic): "A powerful literary radical, but a little too powerful literary radical, but a little too selfish and aloof to be a good selfish and aloof to be a good Socialist."Socialist."

Paul Elmer More: "He was one of Paul Elmer More: "He was one of Rousseau's wild men, but moving Rousseau's wild men, but moving toward the higher self-restraint of neo-toward the higher self-restraint of neo-humanism's inner-check." humanism's inner-check."

Lewis Mumford: "He was the Father of Lewis Mumford: "He was the Father of our National & State Parks." our National & State Parks." 

James Russell Lowell: "He was a James Russell Lowell: "He was a Transcendentalist crackpot and phony Transcendentalist crackpot and phony who insisted on going back to flint and who insisted on going back to flint and steel when he had a matchbox in his steel when he had a matchbox in his pocket; a fellow to the loonies who pocket; a fellow to the loonies who thought bran or wearing of the thought bran or wearing of the substitution of hooks and eyes for substitution of hooks and eyes for buttons would save the world." buttons would save the world."

Thoreau’s Involment in Thoreau’s Involment in Public Affairs Public Affairs

Writing Writing WaldenWalden was the high point was the high point of Thoreau's life and his main of Thoreau's life and his main manifesto. Yet there were other manifesto. Yet there were other important things that involved important things that involved him. He believed that a writer's him. He believed that a writer's work and his life should be one, work and his life should be one, though he sometimes asserted though he sometimes asserted the opposite. At any rate, he the opposite. At any rate, he devoted both his writing and his devoted both his writing and his life increasingly to public issueslife increasingly to public issues. .

With word and deed he had fought With word and deed he had fought against the Mexican-American war against the Mexican-American war of the mid-1840s. And in the next of the mid-1840s. And in the next decade he became totally involved decade he became totally involved in the struggle against slavery. In in the struggle against slavery. In John Brown he found his only hero: John Brown he found his only hero: he became Brown's friend and he became Brown's friend and ardent defender, and after Brown's ardent defender, and after Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry Thoreau raid on Harpers Ferry Thoreau spoke out for him in the most fiery spoke out for him in the most fiery words he ever used. words he ever used.

Thoreau always marched to the Thoreau always marched to the sound of his own drum, as he said in sound of his own drum, as he said in one of his most enduring aphorisms, one of his most enduring aphorisms, and yet the changing times had and yet the changing times had some effect on him. In the 1840s he some effect on him. In the 1840s he was still advising the abolitionists to was still advising the abolitionists to free themselves before trying to free free themselves before trying to free the slaves, but by the time he stood the slaves, but by the time he stood up for John Brown, he had become a up for John Brown, he had become a confirmed abolitionist himself. confirmed abolitionist himself.

In the 1840s he still opposed war In the 1840s he still opposed war both in theory and practice. Yet both in theory and practice. Yet when the Civil War came, he when the Civil War came, he welcomed it. The thing that welcomed it. The thing that distinguished him was a matter of distinguished him was a matter of degree: he demonstrated, far more degree: he demonstrated, far more than most men, that his actions than most men, that his actions resulted from a consistent resulted from a consistent application of his personal application of his personal philosophy. philosophy.

Emerson's AssessmentEmerson's Assessment The best analysis of Thoreau's The best analysis of Thoreau's

character was Emerson's funeral character was Emerson's funeral elegy for him. Emerson was well elegy for him. Emerson was well aware of Thoreau's devotion to his aware of Thoreau's devotion to his principles and said that he "had a principles and said that he "had a perfect probity." Emerson also perfect probity." Emerson also realized, perhaps better than realized, perhaps better than anyone else, that Thoreau gave an anyone else, that Thoreau gave an edge to his probity by his edge to his probity by his willingness to say no, to dispute, willingness to say no, to dispute, to deny.to deny.

Emerson characterized Thoreau as Emerson characterized Thoreau as a hermit and stoic but added that a hermit and stoic but added that he had a softer side which showed he had a softer side which showed especially when he was with young especially when he was with young people he liked. Furthermore, people he liked. Furthermore, Thoreau was resourceful and Thoreau was resourceful and ingenious; he had to be, to live the ingenious; he had to be, to live the life he wanted. He was patient and life he wanted. He was patient and tenacious, as a man had to be to tenacious, as a man had to be to get the most out of nature. get the most out of nature.

He could have been a notable He could have been a notable leader, given all those qualities, leader, given all those qualities, but, Emerson remarked sadly, but, Emerson remarked sadly, Thoreau chose instead to be Thoreau chose instead to be merely the captain of a merely the captain of a huckleberry party. Nevertheless, huckleberry party. Nevertheless, Thoreau was a remarkable man, Thoreau was a remarkable man, and Emerson gave him the highest and Emerson gave him the highest possible praise by calling him possible praise by calling him wise. "His soul, " said Emerson in wise. "His soul, " said Emerson in conclusion, "was made for the conclusion, "was made for the noblest society." noblest society."

QuestionsQuestions

1. What are the two notable 1. What are the two notable contributions Thoreau made?contributions Thoreau made?

2. Who were influenced by Thoreau’s 2. Who were influenced by Thoreau’s ideas of non-violent resistance to ideas of non-violent resistance to injustices?injustices?

3. What is Thoreau’s style?3. What is Thoreau’s style?4. What is Thoreau’s masterpiece?4. What is Thoreau’s masterpiece?5. What did Thoreau want to illustrate 5. What did Thoreau want to illustrate

through his writing?through his writing?6. What is the difference between 6. What is the difference between

Franklin and Thoreau?Franklin and Thoreau?

Herman Melville (1819-1891)

His life represents:His life represents:

one of the greatest one of the greatest tragedies in the North tragedies in the North American literary American literary history, one of the history, one of the greatest losses to greatest losses to American literature, American literature,

one of the most one of the most disgraceful episodes of disgraceful episodes of critical stupidity in the critical stupidity in the

United States United States

Works

1. Redburn 1849 2. Typee 1846 3. Omoo 1874 4. Moby Dick 1851 5. Mardi 1849 6. White Jacket 1850 7. Pierre 1852 8. Billy Budd 1924

Life Melville was born in New

York City. Both his parents came from well-to-do families, but later their family business failed.

Melville’s childhood was happy to the age of 11, when his father died in debt.

Herman Melville was born August 19, 1819 into a slightly eccentric, established New England family.

His father Alan imported clothes and other goods from France, providing Herman with a comfortable and happy childhood in New York.

After Herman's father died in 1832, the family relied on financial assistance from his mother's wealthy family and Herman left school to go to work.

Herman educated himself while working a variety of jobs throughout teens.

In 1839, Melville began his affair with sea when he joined the crew of the St. Lawrence and set sail for Liverpool England.

In 1840, Melville set sail aboard the Acushnet, a whaling ship headed for the South Pacific. The rough conditions of the sea toughened the romantic New Englander and he took such a liking to sea life that he sailed around the globe four years aboard various ships.

Navy. Melville was welcomed home by his family who was entertained by his tales of the high seas and encouraged him to write them down. Herman wrote Typee quickly in 1845, and published it the next year. Typee became a critical and financial success

in 1847, Melville married Elizabeth Shaw, daughter of the Chief Justice of Massachusetts.

To make himself more financially stable for his impending marriage, Melville sought a position with the U.S. Treasury and took on extra work writing book reviews.

Moby Dick published in November 1851, received poor reviews and did not sell.

Despite this continued output and the fact his earlier novels continued to be reprinted and sold fairly well, Melville's literary reputation was in rapid decline.

His death from a heart attack on September 28, 1891 went entirely unheeded by the general public.

Melville's literary reputation remained in decline until he was rediscovered in the 1920's, when a generation, disillusioned by the Great War began to appreciate the depth of Melville's spiritual struggles and the 'modern' experimental style of his stories.

Moby Dick Type of work: symbolic novel First publication: 1851 Author: Herman Melville Setting :Most of the book takes place on

various oceans, such as the Atlantic, the Indian, and the Pacific, in the early to mid 1800’s. However, a good deal of the first part of the novel takes place in New England inside and around Nantucket.

Principal Characters : Ishmael

schoolteacher and part-time sailor; a Presbyterian, like Melville, he projects Calvinistic thinking tempered by his background in literature and philosophy. He discusses such issues as free will, predestination, necessity, and damnation. He is the sole survivor of the Pequod.

Captain Ahab A man who is obsessed with the killing

of a white whale that has maimed him. He has a scar which extends from his head to his leg.

Starbuck He the first mate, is bold enough to

criticize Ahab's vengeance, considers mutiny but fails.

Stubb He is the second mate who is carefree,

indifferent, and fatalistic.

Moby Dick

It is the White Whale; the world’s largest creature. It is powerful, legendary image of nature. It swims peacefully in the sea until disturbed by humans, then shows a terrible fury and anger. For Ahab, Moby Dick is the symbol of evil.

Themes of Moby Dick 1. Search for truth The story deals with the human

pursuit of truth and the meaning of existence.

2. Conflict between Good and Evil. 3. Conflict between Man and Nature. 4. Isolation between man and man;

man and nature; man and society. 5. Solipsism.

Symbols

1. The Pequod The Pequod is a symbol of doom. It is

painted a gloomy black and covered in whale teeth and bones, literally bristling with the mementos of violent death. It is, in fact, marked for death. Adorned like a primitive coffin, the Pequod becomes one.

2. Moby Dick Moby Dick possesses various symbolic

meanings for various individuals. 1) Symbol of nature for human beings, because it is mysterious, powerful, unknown. 2) Symbol of evil for the Captain Ahab. 3) Symbol of good and purity because of its

whiteness.

3 Voyage of the Pequod Symbol of the pursuit of ideals, adventure,

and the hunt in the vast wilderness.

4) Ahab Symbol of solipsism, revenge and then

evil. 5) Starbuck Symbol of good and noble. 6) the Doubloon Symbol of the lure of evil and

enticements to greed. 7) Sea Symbol of vastness, loneliness,

and isolation.

Evaluation Moby Dick is, critics have agreed,

one of the world’s greatest masterpieces. To get to know the 19th century American mind and America itself, one has to read this book.

One of the classics of American Literature and even world literature.

Moby Dick is an encyclopedia of everything, history, philosophy, religion, etc. in addition to a detailed account of the operations of the whaling industry.

Questions Who was Herman Melville? What is Melville’s masterpiece? What does Moby Dick symbolize? Why did Melville’s popularity begin to

wane as he changed from writing adventure stories to philosophical and symbolic works?

When did Melville’s work again come to the attention of literary scholars and the public?

Why is Moby Dick difficult to read?

Henry Wadsworth Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)Longfellow (1807-1882)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, MainePortland, Maine

His father, Stephen Longfellow, was a Portland His father, Stephen Longfellow, was a Portland lawyer and congressman lawyer and congressman

His mother, Zilpah, was the daughter of General His mother, Zilpah, was the daughter of General Peleg Wadsworth Peleg Wadsworth

Longfellow was early fond of reading - Longfellow was early fond of reading - Washington Irving's Sketch-Book was his Washington Irving's Sketch-Book was his favorite favorite

Among Longfellow's classmates at Bowdoin Among Longfellow's classmates at Bowdoin College was Nathaniel Hawthorne, whom he College was Nathaniel Hawthorne, whom he helped later reviewing warmly his helped later reviewing warmly his Twice-Told Twice-Told TalesTales. .

Before leaving the college, Longfellow had Before leaving the college, Longfellow had planned to become a writer, and wrote to planned to become a writer, and wrote to his father: his father: "The fact is, I most eagerly "The fact is, I most eagerly aspire after future eminence in literature; aspire after future eminence in literature; my whole soul burns most ardently for it, my whole soul burns most ardently for it, and every earthly thought centers in it..."and every earthly thought centers in it..."

Longfellow's translation of Horace earned Longfellow's translation of Horace earned him a scholarship for further studies. him a scholarship for further studies.

After graduating in 1825 he traveled in After graduating in 1825 he traveled in Italy, France and Spain from 1826 to 1829, Italy, France and Spain from 1826 to 1829, and returned to the United States to work and returned to the United States to work as a professor and librarian in Bodwoin.as a professor and librarian in Bodwoin.

In 1831 he married Mart Storer Potter, and made with In 1831 he married Mart Storer Potter, and made with her another journey to Europe, where he studied her another journey to Europe, where he studied Swedish, Danish, Finnish, and the Dutch language Swedish, Danish, Finnish, and the Dutch language and literature. and literature.

Longfellow's wife died at Rotterdam in 1835Longfellow's wife died at Rotterdam in 1835 In 1836 Longfellow began teaching in Harvard In 1836 Longfellow began teaching in Harvard Longfellow was married twice - after the death of his Longfellow was married twice - after the death of his

first wife he married in 1843 Frances Appletonfirst wife he married in 1843 Frances Appleton Frances died tragically in 1861 by burning - her Frances died tragically in 1861 by burning - her

dress caught fire from a lighted match. Longfellow dress caught fire from a lighted match. Longfellow settled in Cambridge, where he remained for the rest settled in Cambridge, where he remained for the rest of his life of his life

Queen Victoria, who was his great admirer, invited Queen Victoria, who was his great admirer, invited

him to teahim to tea

The poet's 70th birthday in 1877 was The poet's 70th birthday in 1877 was celebrated around the country celebrated around the country

Longfellow died in Cambridge on March 24, Longfellow died in Cambridge on March 24, 1882. In London his marble image is seen in 1882. In London his marble image is seen in Westminster Abbey, in the Poet's Corner Westminster Abbey, in the Poet's Corner

Works of LongfellowWorks of Longfellow Voices of the NightVoices of the Night Earlier PoemsEarlier Poems Ballads and other PoemsBallads and other Poems Poems on SlaveryPoems on Slavery The Belfry of Bruges and other PoemsThe Belfry of Bruges and other Poems Evangeline: a Tale of AcadieEvangeline: a Tale of Acadie The Seaside and the FiresideThe Seaside and the Fireside The Song of HiawathaThe Song of Hiawatha The Courtship of Miles StandishThe Courtship of Miles Standish Birds of PassageBirds of Passage Tales of a Wayside InnTales of a Wayside Inn Ultima ThuleUltima Thule In the HarborIn the Harbor FragmentsFragments Christus: a MysteryChristus: a Mystery TranslationsTranslations

Longfellow’s InfluenceLongfellow’s Influence Longfellow also influenced America's artistic and Longfellow also influenced America's artistic and

popular culture. popular culture. His works inspired artists and composers, and His works inspired artists and composers, and

his poems were read and recited not only in his poems were read and recited not only in parlors and schoolrooms, but also at civic parlors and schoolrooms, but also at civic ceremonies. ceremonies.

Schools, geographic locations, and ordinary Schools, geographic locations, and ordinary products, even cigars, were named for him and products, even cigars, were named for him and for characters from his poems. In the 1870s, for characters from his poems. In the 1870s, schoolchildren celebrated his birthday as if it schoolchildren celebrated his birthday as if it were a national holiday.were a national holiday.

His poetry has been a continuous presence in our His poetry has been a continuous presence in our language ever since. language ever since.

He is quoted by merchants and manufacturers on He is quoted by merchants and manufacturers on their products, by journalists and preachers in their products, by journalists and preachers in their articles and sermons, and by ordinary men their articles and sermons, and by ordinary men and women in their daily lives. and women in their daily lives.

Some of his lines and phrases - "A boy's will is the Some of his lines and phrases - "A boy's will is the wind's will," "Ships that pass in the night," wind's will," "Ships that pass in the night," "Footprints on the sands of time" - are so well "Footprints on the sands of time" - are so well known that they have entered the American known that they have entered the American language. language.

Today they are often quoted without the speaker Today they are often quoted without the speaker even knowing Longfellow penned the words.even knowing Longfellow penned the words.

Poetic FeaturesPoetic Features Longfellow was greatly influenced by the Longfellow was greatly influenced by the

German Romanticism German Romanticism One of the reasons why he was loved best in One of the reasons why he was loved best in

his time is his optimistic attitude in his poetry his time is his optimistic attitude in his poetry he was one of the “schoolroom poets” or he was one of the “schoolroom poets” or

“fireside poets” “fireside poets” His reputation as a major American Poet His reputation as a major American Poet

declined between the two wars for the declined between the two wars for the gentleness and sweetness, and the common gentleness and sweetness, and the common subjects subjects

He is lacking in passion and high imagination He is lacking in passion and high imagination His style and subjects are conventional His style and subjects are conventional

compared with modern poets compared with modern poets

CommentaryCommentary Probably the best loved of American poets the Probably the best loved of American poets the

world over is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.world over is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. There are two reasons for the popularity and There are two reasons for the popularity and

significance of Longfellow's poetrysignificance of Longfellow's poetry 1. He had the gift of easy rhyme.1. He had the gift of easy rhyme.

2.He wrote on obvious themes which appeal2.He wrote on obvious themes which appeal

to all kinds of peopleto all kinds of people He made a great contribution to "the flowering He made a great contribution to "the flowering

of New England of New England Americans owe a great debt to Longfellow Americans owe a great debt to Longfellow

because he was among the first of American because he was among the first of American writers to use native themeswriters to use native themes

Longfellow QuotationsLongfellow Quotations

1.All things come round to him who will but wait.1.All things come round to him who will but wait.

2. All things must change to something new, to 2. All things must change to something new, to something strange. something strange.

3. Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human 3. Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however high we reach we are never breast, that however high we reach we are never satisfied. satisfied.

4. Build today, then strong and sure, with a firm and 4. Build today, then strong and sure, with a firm and ample base; And ascending and secure. Shall ample base; And ascending and secure. Shall tomorrow find its place. tomorrow find its place.

5. 5. If you only knock long enough and loud If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. up somebody.

6. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave 6. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; dust thou art, to dust is not its goal; dust thou art, to dust returnest, was not spoken of the soul. returnest, was not spoken of the soul.

7. Music is the universal language of 7. Music is the universal language of mankind. mankind.

8. People demand freedom only when they 8. People demand freedom only when they have no power. have no power.

9. Sometimes we may learn more from a 9. Sometimes we may learn more from a man's errors, than from his virtues. man's errors, than from his virtues.

10.The talent of success is nothing more 10.The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do without doing well whatever you do without thought of fame. If it comes at all it will thought of fame. If it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, not come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after.because it is sought after.

11. Trust no future, however pleasant! Let 11. Trust no future, however pleasant! Let the dead past bury its dead! Act - act in the dead past bury its dead! Act - act in the living Present! Heart within and God the living Present! Heart within and God overhead. overhead.

QuestionsQuestions

Who was the most popular and the best Who was the most popular and the best loved poet in the 19th century ?loved poet in the 19th century ?

Why was Longfellow often loved by Why was Longfellow often loved by common people?common people?

On what kind of subjects does On what kind of subjects does Longfellow’s poetry put its emphasis?Longfellow’s poetry put its emphasis?

Which of Longfellow’s poems was first Which of Longfellow’s poems was first translated into Chinese?translated into Chinese?

Hymn to the NightHymn to the Night I heard the trailing garments of the NightI heard the trailing garments of the Night Sweep through her marble halls! Sweep through her marble halls! I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light From the celestial walls! From the celestial walls!

I felt her presence, by its spell of might,I felt her presence, by its spell of might, Stoop o'er me from above; Stoop o'er me from above; The calm, majestic presence of the Night, The calm, majestic presence of the Night, As of the one I love.As of the one I love.

I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight, I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight, The manifold, soft chimes, The manifold, soft chimes, That fill the haunted chambers of the NightThat fill the haunted chambers of the Night Like some old poet's rhymes. Like some old poet's rhymes.

From the cool cisterns of the midnight air From the cool cisterns of the midnight air My spirit drank repose; My spirit drank repose; The fountain of perpetual peace flows there,-- The fountain of perpetual peace flows there,-- From those deep cisterns flows.From those deep cisterns flows.

O holy Night! from thee I learn to bearO holy Night! from thee I learn to bear What man has borne before! What man has borne before! Thou layest thy finger on the lips of Care, Thou layest thy finger on the lips of Care, And they complain no more. And they complain no more.

Peace! Peace! Orestes-like I breathe this Peace! Peace! Orestes-like I breathe this prayer! prayer!

Descend with broad-winged flight, Descend with broad-winged flight, The welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the The welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the

most fair, most fair, The best-beloved Night! The best-beloved Night!

The Secret of the SeaThe Secret of the Sea

Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me    As I gaze upon the sea!    As I gaze upon the sea! All the old romantic legends, All the old romantic legends,    All my dreams, come back to me.   All my dreams, come back to me.

Sails of silk and ropes of sandal, Sails of silk and ropes of sandal,    Such as gleam in ancient lore;    Such as gleam in ancient lore; And the singing of the sailors, And the singing of the sailors,    And the answer from the shore!    And the answer from the shore!

Most of all, the Spanish ballad Most of all, the Spanish ballad    Haunts me oft, and tarries long,    Haunts me oft, and tarries long, Of the noble Count Arnaldos Of the noble Count Arnaldos    And the sailor's mystic song.    And the sailor's mystic song.

Like the long waves on a sea-beach, Like the long waves on a sea-beach,    Where the sand as silver shines,    Where the sand as silver shines, With a soft, monotonous cadence, With a soft, monotonous cadence,    Flow its unrhymed lyric lines:--    Flow its unrhymed lyric lines:--

Telling how the Count Arnaldos, Telling how the Count Arnaldos,    With his hawk upon his hand,    With his hawk upon his hand, Saw a fair and stately galley, Saw a fair and stately galley,    Steering onward to the land;--    Steering onward to the land;--

How he heard the ancient helmsman How he heard the ancient helmsman    Chant a song so wild and clear,    Chant a song so wild and clear, That the sailing sea-bird slowly That the sailing sea-bird slowly    Poised upon the mast to hear,    Poised upon the mast to hear,

Till his soul was full of longing, Till his soul was full of longing,    And he cried, with impulse strong,--    And he cried, with impulse strong,-- "Helmsman! for the love of heaven, "Helmsman! for the love of heaven,    Teach me, too, that wondrous song!“   Teach me, too, that wondrous song!“

"Wouldst thou,"--so the helmsman "Wouldst thou,"--so the helmsman

answered, answered,    "Learn the secret of the sea?    "Learn the secret of the sea? Only those who brave its dangers Only those who brave its dangers    Comprehend its mystery!"    Comprehend its mystery!"

In each sail that skims the horizon, In each sail that skims the horizon,    In each landward-blowing breeze,    In each landward-blowing breeze, I behold that stately galley, I behold that stately galley,    Hear those mournful melodies;    Hear those mournful melodies;

Till my soul is full of longing Till my soul is full of longing    For the secret of the sea,    For the secret of the sea, And the heart of the great ocean And the heart of the great ocean    Sends a thrilling pulse through me.    Sends a thrilling pulse through me.

Walt WhitmanWalt Whitman• One of the great innovators in One of the great innovators in

American literatureAmerican literature

• He gave America its first genuine epic He gave America its first genuine epic poem: poem: Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass

Life Life • Born on May 31, 1819, Walt Born on May 31, 1819, Walt

Whitman was the second son of Whitman was the second son of Walter Whitman, a house-builder, Walter Whitman, a house-builder, and Louisa Van Velsor. and Louisa Van Velsor.

• At the age of twelve Whitman At the age of twelve Whitman began to learn the printer's trade, began to learn the printer's trade, and fell in love with the written and fell in love with the written word. word.

• Largely self-taught, he read Largely self-taught, he read voraciously, becoming acquainted voraciously, becoming acquainted with the works of Homer, Dante, with the works of Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and the Bible. Shakespeare, and the Bible.

• In 1836, at the age of 17, he began his career In 1836, at the age of 17, he began his career as teacher in the one-room school houses of as teacher in the one-room school houses of Long Island. He continued to teach until Long Island. He continued to teach until 1841, when he turned to journalism as a 1841, when he turned to journalism as a full-time career. full-time career.

• In the fall of 1848, he founded a "free soil" In the fall of 1848, he founded a "free soil" newspaper, the newspaper, the Brooklyn FreemanBrooklyn Freeman, and , and continued to develop the unique style of continued to develop the unique style of poetry that later so astonished Ralph Waldo poetry that later so astonished Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson.

• In 1855, Whitman took out a copyright on In 1855, Whitman took out a copyright on the first edition of the first edition of Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass, which , which consisted of twelve untitled poems and a consisted of twelve untitled poems and a preface.preface.

• He published the volume himself, and sent a He published the volume himself, and sent a copy to Emerson in July of 1855. copy to Emerson in July of 1855.

• Whitman released a second edition of the Whitman released a second edition of the book in 1856, containing thirty-three poems, book in 1856, containing thirty-three poems, a letter from Emerson praising the first a letter from Emerson praising the first edition, and a long open letter by Whitman edition, and a long open letter by Whitman in response. in response.

• Whitman struggled to support himself Whitman struggled to support himself through most of his life. In Washington he through most of his life. In Washington he lived on a clerk's salary and modest lived on a clerk's salary and modest royalties, and spent any excess money, royalties, and spent any excess money, including gifts from friends, to buy supplies including gifts from friends, to buy supplies for the patients he nursed. for the patients he nursed.

• He had also been sending money to his He had also been sending money to his widowed mother and an invalid brother. From widowed mother and an invalid brother. From time to time writers both in the states and in time to time writers both in the states and in England sent him "purses" of money so that England sent him "purses" of money so that he could get by. he could get by.

• In the early 1870s, Whitman settled in In the early 1870s, Whitman settled in Camden, where he had come to visit his dying Camden, where he had come to visit his dying mother at his brother's house. mother at his brother's house.

• after suffering a stroke, Whitman found it after suffering a stroke, Whitman found it impossible to return to Washington. He stayed impossible to return to Washington. He stayed with his brother until the 1882 publication of with his brother until the 1882 publication of Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass gave Whitman enough money gave Whitman enough money to buy a home in Camden. to buy a home in Camden.

• In the simple two-story clapboard house, In the simple two-story clapboard house, Whitman spent his declining years working Whitman spent his declining years working on additions and revisions to a new edition on additions and revisions to a new edition of the book and preparing his final volume of the book and preparing his final volume of poems and prose, of poems and prose, Good-Bye, My FancyGood-Bye, My Fancy (1891). (1891).

• After his death on March 26, 1892, After his death on March 26, 1892, Whitman was buried in a tomb he designed Whitman was buried in a tomb he designed and had built on a lot in Harleigh Cemetery. and had built on a lot in Harleigh Cemetery.

WorksWorks• PoetryPoetry • Drum TapsDrum Taps (1865) (1865)• Good-Bye, My FancyGood-Bye, My Fancy (1891) (1891)• Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass (1855) (1855)• Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass (1856) (1856)• Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass (1860) (1860)• Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass (1867) (1867)• Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass (1870) (1870)• Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass (1876) (1876)• Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass (1881) (1881)• Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass (1891) (1891)• Passage to IndiaPassage to India (1870) (1870)• Sequel to Drum TapsSequel to Drum Taps (1865) (1865)

• ProseProse

• Complete Prose WorksComplete Prose Works (1892) (1892)

• Democratic VistasDemocratic Vistas (1871) (1871)

• Franklin Evans; or, The InebriateFranklin Evans; or, The Inebriate (1842) (1842)

• Memoranda During the WarMemoranda During the War (1875) (1875)

• November BoughsNovember Boughs (1888) (1888)

• Specimen Days and CollectSpecimen Days and Collect (1881) (1881)

Poetic FeaturesPoetic Features• Walt Whitman was one of the most Walt Whitman was one of the most

important American poets in the important American poets in the nineteenth century and one of the nineteenth century and one of the great innovators in American great innovators in American literature. In the preface to his literature. In the preface to his Leaves of Grass, Leaves of Grass, he says that one of he says that one of his focuses is on the sort of poet his focuses is on the sort of poet America required and the sort of America required and the sort of poetry America needed. poetry America needed.

• The great American poet would create The great American poet would create both new forms and new subject both new forms and new subject matter for poetry.matter for poetry.

• In terms of content, American In terms of content, American poetry would not echo the sad poetry would not echo the sad complaints of the Graveyard complaints of the Graveyard school nor follow the moral school nor follow the moral preaching of didactic poets. As a preaching of didactic poets. As a matter of fact, Whitman himself matter of fact, Whitman himself was that poet and his was that poet and his Leaves of Leaves of Grass Grass is an example of that poetry. is an example of that poetry.

• Whitman’s poetry is typical of Whitman’s poetry is typical of America’s. America’s.

• Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass grew and changed grew and changed as he and his nation, America, as he and his nation, America, grew and changed. grew and changed.

• He saw reality as a continuous flow, He saw reality as a continuous flow, without a beginning or end. He without a beginning or end. He disliked the nineteenth-century disliked the nineteenth-century poetic forms that are stiff and poetic forms that are stiff and patterned. Most of the poems inpatterned. Most of the poems in Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass are about man and are about man and nature, especially common people nature, especially common people and ordinary Americans. and ordinary Americans.

• He wanted his poetry to be for the He wanted his poetry to be for the common people. He was common people. He was determined “to meet people and determined “to meet people and the States face to face, to confront the States face to face, to confront them with an American rude them with an American rude tongue”. tongue”.

• In the area of poetic form, In the area of poetic form, Whitman made his great Whitman made his great contributions. Through him, contributions. Through him, American poets finally freed American poets finally freed themselves from the old English themselves from the old English traditions. Throughout his life he traditions. Throughout his life he advocated a completely new and advocated a completely new and completely American form of completely American form of poetic expression. poetic expression.

• The poetic form he employed is The poetic form he employed is now called free verse ---- the now called free verse ---- the verse that does not follow a fixed verse that does not follow a fixed metrical pattern, the verse metrical pattern, the verse without a fixed beat or regular without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme. rhyme scheme.

• Whitman thought that message Whitman thought that message was always more important than was always more important than form. So he always developed his form. So he always developed his style to suit his message and the style to suit his message and the audience he hoped to reach. audience he hoped to reach.

• He abandoned conventional and He abandoned conventional and hackneyed poetic figures and hackneyed poetic figures and drew his symbolism freely from drew his symbolism freely from his experience. He remains one his experience. He remains one of American most important of American most important poets because he announced and poets because he announced and instructed a completely new age.instructed a completely new age.

Poem AppreciationPoem Appreciation• O Captain, My CaptainO Captain, My Captain

• The following is a three-stanza The following is a three-stanza poem by Walt Whitman. The poem poem by Walt Whitman. The poem was published in Sequel to Drum-was published in Sequel to Drum-Taps in 1865. The poem is an Taps in 1865. The poem is an elegy on the death of President elegy on the death of President Abraham Lincoln and it is noted Abraham Lincoln and it is noted for its regular form, meter, and for its regular form, meter, and rhyme, though it is also known for rhyme, though it is also known for its sentimentality verging on the its sentimentality verging on the maudlin. maudlin.

• The poem is highly popular The poem is highly popular among American people. It among American people. It portrays Lincoln as the captain of portrays Lincoln as the captain of a sea-worn ship which represents a sea-worn ship which represents or symbolizes the Union that had or symbolizes the Union that had experienced the American Civil experienced the American Civil War and triumphant at last. War and triumphant at last.

• While “The ship is anchored safe While “The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and and sound, its voyage closed and done”, the captain lies on the done”, the captain lies on the deck, “Fallen cold and dead.” deck, “Fallen cold and dead.”

• The poem expresses Whitman’s deep The poem expresses Whitman’s deep sorrow for the death of Abraham sorrow for the death of Abraham Lincoln who was assassinated on April Lincoln who was assassinated on April 14 1865, five days after the declaration 14 1865, five days after the declaration of the triumphant close of the Civil of the triumphant close of the Civil War. War.

• The poem contains three stanzas, each The poem contains three stanzas, each of which consists of 8 lines. The first of which consists of 8 lines. The first four lines are two couplets and the last four lines are two couplets and the last four are in the form of a regular ballad four are in the form of a regular ballad with the fifth and seventh lines iambic with the fifth and seventh lines iambic tetrameter and the sixth and eighth tetrameter and the sixth and eighth lines iambic trimeter. The rhyme lines iambic trimeter. The rhyme scheme is scheme is aabbcdedaabbcded. .

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we

sought is won,sought is won,The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all

exulting,exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and

daring;daring; But O heart! heart! heart!But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red,O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies,Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! My Captain! Rise up and hear the O Captain! My Captain! Rise up and hear the bells;bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,bugle trills,

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths –for For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths –for you the shores a crowding,you the shores a crowding,

For you they call, the swaying mass ,their For you they call, the swaying mass ,their eager faces turning;eager faces turning;

Here Captain! dear father!Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head!This arm beneath your head! It is some dream that on the deck,It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead.You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still.pale and still.

My father does not feel my arm, he has no My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,pulse nor will,

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,voyage closed and done,

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won:with object won:

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! But I, with mournful tread,But I, with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies,Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.Fallen cold and dead.

Come up from the Fields Come up from the Fields FatherFather

• The following is one of Whitman’s The following is one of Whitman’s best poems. It is a short, well-best poems. It is a short, well-written epic that tells a story about written epic that tells a story about one family expecting a letter from one family expecting a letter from their son who is fighting in the their son who is fighting in the battlefields during the Civil War battlefields during the Civil War

• But when his letter comes, the But when his letter comes, the mother finds that “a strange hand mother finds that “a strange hand writes for our dear son”, “the only writes for our dear son”, “the only son” of the family. son” of the family.

• The stricken mother grieves deeply The stricken mother grieves deeply for the death of her son and wants for the death of her son and wants “to follow, to seek, to be with her “to follow, to seek, to be with her dear dead son.” We feel a strong dear dead son.” We feel a strong affection of the mother, of the affection of the mother, of the family for the son, and the indelible family for the son, and the indelible effect of the American Civil War on effect of the American Civil War on one of the common families. one of the common families.

• Come up from the fields father, here’s aCome up from the fields father, here’s a• letter from our Pete,letter from our Pete,• And come to the front door mother, here’sAnd come to the front door mother, here’s• a letter from thy dear son. a letter from thy dear son. • Lo,’tis autumn,Lo,’tis autumn,• Lo, where the trees, deeper green, yellower Lo, where the trees, deeper green, yellower

and redder,and redder,• Cool and sweeten Ohio’s villages withCool and sweeten Ohio’s villages with• leaves fluttering in the moderate wind,leaves fluttering in the moderate wind,• Where apples ripe in the orchards hangWhere apples ripe in the orchards hang• and grapes on the trellis’d vines,and grapes on the trellis’d vines,• (Smell you the smell of the grapes on the (Smell you the smell of the grapes on the

vines?vines?• Smell you the buckwheat where the beesSmell you the buckwheat where the bees• were lately buzzing?)were lately buzzing?)

• Above all, lo, the sky so calm, so Above all, lo, the sky so calm, so transparenttransparent

• after the rain, and with wondrous clouds,after the rain, and with wondrous clouds,

• Below too, all calm, all vital and beautiful,Below too, all calm, all vital and beautiful,

• and the farm prospers well.and the farm prospers well.

• Down in the fields all prospers well,Down in the fields all prospers well,

• But now from the fields come father, comeBut now from the fields come father, come

• at the daughter’s call,at the daughter’s call,

• And come to the entry mother, to the front And come to the entry mother, to the front

• door come right away.door come right away.

• Fast as she can she hurries, somethingFast as she can she hurries, something

• ominous, her steps trembling,ominous, her steps trembling,

• She does not tarry to smooth her hair norShe does not tarry to smooth her hair nor

• adjust her cap.adjust her cap.

• Open the envelope quickly,Open the envelope quickly,

• O this is not our son’s writing, yet his name O this is not our son’s writing, yet his name

• is signed,is signed,

• O a strange hand writes for our dear son,O a strange hand writes for our dear son,

• O stricken mother’s soul!O stricken mother’s soul!

• All swims before her eyes, flashes withAll swims before her eyes, flashes with• black, she catches the main words only,black, she catches the main words only,• Sentences broken, Sentences broken, gunshot wound in thegunshot wound in the• breast, cavalry skirmish, taken to hospitalbreast, cavalry skirmish, taken to hospital,,• At present low, but will soon be betterAt present low, but will soon be better..• Ah now the single figure to me,Ah now the single figure to me,• Amid all teeming and wealthy Ohio withAmid all teeming and wealthy Ohio with• all its cities and farms,all its cities and farms,• Sickly white in the face and dull in the Sickly white in the face and dull in the • head, very faint,head, very faint,• By the jamb of a door leans.By the jamb of a door leans.

• Grieve not so, dear motherGrieve not so, dear mother, ( the just-grown , ( the just-grown

• daughter speaks through her sobs,daughter speaks through her sobs,

• The little sisters huddle around speechlessThe little sisters huddle around speechless

• and dismay’d,)and dismay’d,)

• See, dearest mother, the letter says Pete will See, dearest mother, the letter says Pete will soonsoon

• be better.be better.

• Alas poor boy, he will never be better, ( norAlas poor boy, he will never be better, ( nor

• may be needs to be better, that bravemay be needs to be better, that brave

• and simple soul,)and simple soul,)

• While they stand at home at the door he isWhile they stand at home at the door he is

• dead already,dead already,

• The only son is dead.The only son is dead.

• But the mother needs to be better,But the mother needs to be better,

• She with tin form presently drest in black,She with tin form presently drest in black,

• By day her meals untouch’d, then at nightBy day her meals untouch’d, then at night

• fitfully sleeping often waking,fitfully sleeping often waking,

• In the midnight waking, weeping, longingIn the midnight waking, weeping, longing

• with one deep longing,with one deep longing,

O that she might withdraw unnoticed, silent O that she might withdraw unnoticed, silent from lifefrom life

• escape and withdraw,escape and withdraw,

• To follow, to seek, to be with her dear dead To follow, to seek, to be with her dear dead son.son.

Spirit that Formed This Spirit that Formed This SceneScene

• In the autumn of 1879, Whitman In the autumn of 1879, Whitman was invited to Lawrence to was invited to Lawrence to participate in the celebration of participate in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the the 25th anniversary of the Kansas Peasant Uprising. After Kansas Peasant Uprising. After that he went to Denver, Colorado that he went to Denver, Colorado where he viewed a canyon. where he viewed a canyon.

• He saw “heaven-ambitious He saw “heaven-ambitious peaks” and “turbulent-clear peaks” and “turbulent-clear streams”, which were majestic in streams”, which were majestic in all different forms. all different forms.

• These formless mountains and These formless mountains and rivers have been formed for the rivers have been formed for the “reasons of their own”. Suddenly “reasons of their own”. Suddenly he realized that his poems have he realized that his poems have also been created for the reasons of also been created for the reasons of their own. After that he wrote the their own. After that he wrote the following poem in which he draws following poem in which he draws comparison between the canyon comparison between the canyon and his work. and his work.

• Whitman’s poetry was criticized in Whitman’s poetry was criticized in his day for being rather rough and his day for being rather rough and uncivilized and this poem is an uncivilized and this poem is an example that justifies that criticism.example that justifies that criticism.

• Spirit that form’d this scene,Spirit that form’d this scene,

• These tumbled rock-piles grim and These tumbled rock-piles grim and red,red,

• These reckless heaven-ambitious These reckless heaven-ambitious peaks,peaks,

• These gorges, turbulent-clear These gorges, turbulent-clear streams, this naked freshness,streams, this naked freshness,

• These formless wild arrays, for These formless wild arrays, for reasons of their own,reasons of their own,

• I know thee, savage spirit --- we I know thee, savage spirit --- we have communed together,have communed together,

• Mine too such wild arrays, for Mine too such wild arrays, for reasons of their own;reasons of their own;

• Was’t charged against my chants Was’t charged against my chants they had forgotten art?they had forgotten art?

• To fuse within themselves its rules To fuse within themselves its rules precise and delicatesse?precise and delicatesse?

• The lyrist’s measure’d beat, the The lyrist’s measure’d beat, the wrought-out temple’s gracewrought-out temple’s grace

• ---- column and polish’d arch ---- column and polish’d arch forgot?forgot?

• But thou that revelest here ---- But thou that revelest here ---- spirit that formed this scene,spirit that formed this scene,

• They have remember’d thee.They have remember’d thee.

Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) (1830-1886)

lifelife Emily Dickinson was born into one of Amherst, Emily Dickinson was born into one of Amherst,

Massachusetts’ most prominent families on 10 Massachusetts’ most prominent families on 10 December 1830.December 1830.

She was the second child born to Emily She was the second child born to Emily Norcross (1804-1882) and Edward Dickinson Norcross (1804-1882) and Edward Dickinson (1803-1874), a Yale graduate, successful lawyer, (1803-1874), a Yale graduate, successful lawyer, Treasurer for Amherst College and a United Treasurer for Amherst College and a United States Congressman. States Congressman.

Emily had an older brother named William Emily had an older brother named William Austin Dickinson (1829-1895) (known as Austin Dickinson (1829-1895) (known as Austin) who would marry her most intimate Austin) who would marry her most intimate friend Susan Gilbert in 1856. friend Susan Gilbert in 1856.

The Dickinsons were strong advocates for The Dickinsons were strong advocates for education and Emily too benefited from an education and Emily too benefited from an early education in classic literature, early education in classic literature, studying the writings of Virgil and Latin, studying the writings of Virgil and Latin, mathematics, history, and botany. mathematics, history, and botany.

Dickinson proved to be a dazzling student Dickinson proved to be a dazzling student and in 1847, though she was already and in 1847, though she was already somewhat of a ‘homebody’, at the age of somewhat of a ‘homebody’, at the age of seventeen Emily left for South Hadley, seventeen Emily left for South Hadley, Massachusetts to attend the Mount Holyoke Massachusetts to attend the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Female Seminary.

She stayed there less than a year and some She stayed there less than a year and some of the theories as to why she left are of the theories as to why she left are homesickness and poor health.homesickness and poor health.

She was in the midst of the college town’s society She was in the midst of the college town’s society and bustle although she started to spend more and bustle although she started to spend more time alone, reading and maintaining lively time alone, reading and maintaining lively correspondences with friends and relatives.correspondences with friends and relatives.

Emily Dickinson died on 15 May 1886, at the age Emily Dickinson died on 15 May 1886, at the age of fifty-six. She now rests in the West Cemetery of fifty-six. She now rests in the West Cemetery of Amherst, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. of Amherst, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. Not wishing a church service, a gathering was Not wishing a church service, a gathering was held at the Homestead. held at the Homestead.

Emily Dickinson’s PoetryEmily Dickinson’s Poetry Emily Dickinson had no abstract theory of Emily Dickinson had no abstract theory of

poetry. It is not certain if she was familiar with poetry. It is not certain if she was familiar with the poetic theories of Edgar Allan Poe, Coleridge, the poetic theories of Edgar Allan Poe, Coleridge, Emerson, Whitman and Matthew Arnold. When Emerson, Whitman and Matthew Arnold. When editor Thomas Higginson asked her to define editor Thomas Higginson asked her to define poetry, she gave a subjective, emotional response: poetry, she gave a subjective, emotional response: "If I read a book and it makes my whole body so "If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?" the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?"

The Character of Her VerseThe Character of Her Verse 1. Highly compressed, compact, 1. Highly compressed, compact,

shy of being exposed. shy of being exposed. 2. Her style is elliptical - she will 2. Her style is elliptical - she will

say no more than she must - say no more than she must - suggesting either a quality of suggesting either a quality of uncertainty or one of finality. uncertainty or one of finality.

3. Her lyrics are her highly 3. Her lyrics are her highly subjective. One-fifth of them subjective. One-fifth of them begin with "I" - she knows no begin with "I" - she knows no other consciousness. other consciousness.

4. Ambiguity of meaning and 4. Ambiguity of meaning and syntax. Wrote Higginson: "She syntax. Wrote Higginson: "She almost always grasped whatever almost always grasped whatever she sought, but with some fracture she sought, but with some fracture of grammar and dictionary on the of grammar and dictionary on the way." way."

5. Concreteness - it is nearly a 5. Concreteness - it is nearly a theorem of lyric poetry that it is as theorem of lyric poetry that it is as good as it is concrete. Even when good as it is concrete. Even when she is talking of the most abstract she is talking of the most abstract of subjects, Emily specifies it by of subjects, Emily specifies it by elaborating it in the concreteness elaborating it in the concreteness of simile or metaphor. of simile or metaphor.

6. Use of poetic forms such as 6. Use of poetic forms such as alliteration, assonance, and alliteration, assonance, and consonance; also onomatopoetic consonance; also onomatopoetic effects effects

7. Obscurity. Higginson said " ... 7. Obscurity. Higginson said " ... she was obscure, and sometimes she was obscure, and sometimes inscrutable; and though inscrutable; and though obscurity is sometimes, in obscurity is sometimes, in Coleridge's phrase, a compliment Coleridge's phrase, a compliment to the reader, yet it is never safe to the reader, yet it is never safe to press this compliment too to press this compliment too hard." hard."

Themes In Emily Dickinson's PoetryThemes In Emily Dickinson's Poetry

A few themes occupied the poet: love, nature, doubt A few themes occupied the poet: love, nature, doubt and faith, suffering, death, immortality - these John and faith, suffering, death, immortality - these John Donne has called the great granite obsessions of Donne has called the great granite obsessions of humankind. humankind.

Love:Love: Though she was lonely and isolated, Emily Though she was lonely and isolated, Emily appears to have loved deeply, perhaps only those appears to have loved deeply, perhaps only those who have "loved and lost" can love, with an who have "loved and lost" can love, with an intensity and desire which can never be fulfilled in intensity and desire which can never be fulfilled in the reality of the lovers' touch. the reality of the lovers' touch.

Nature:Nature: A fascination with nature consumed A fascination with nature consumed Emily. She summed all her lyrics as "the Emily. She summed all her lyrics as "the simple news that nature told," she loved simple news that nature told," she loved "nature's creatures" no matter how "nature's creatures" no matter how insignificant - the robin, the hummingbird, insignificant - the robin, the hummingbird, the bee, the butterfly, the rat .Only the the bee, the butterfly, the rat .Only the serpent gave her a chill. serpent gave her a chill.

Faith And Doubt:Faith And Doubt: Emily's theological orientation Emily's theological orientation was Puritan - she was taught all the premises of was Puritan - she was taught all the premises of Calvinistic dogma - but she reacted strenuously Calvinistic dogma - but she reacted strenuously against two of them: infant damnation and God's against two of them: infant damnation and God's sovereign election of His own. There was another sovereign election of His own. There was another force alive in her time that competed for her force alive in her time that competed for her interests: that was the force of literary interests: that was the force of literary transcendentalism. This explains a kind of transcendentalism. This explains a kind of paradoxical or ambivalent attitude toward paradoxical or ambivalent attitude toward matters religious. She loved to speak of a matters religious. She loved to speak of a compassionate Savior and the grandeur of the compassionate Savior and the grandeur of the Scriptures, but she disliked the hypocrisy and Scriptures, but she disliked the hypocrisy and arbitrariness of institutional church. arbitrariness of institutional church.

Pain And Suffering:Pain And Suffering: Emily displays an Emily displays an obsession with pain and suffering; there is obsession with pain and suffering; there is an eagerness in her to examine pain, to an eagerness in her to examine pain, to measure it, to calculate it, to intellectualize measure it, to calculate it, to intellectualize it as fully as possible. Her last stanzas it as fully as possible. Her last stanzas become a catalog of grief and its causes: become a catalog of grief and its causes: death, want, cold, despair, exile. Emily says death, want, cold, despair, exile. Emily says "I like a look of Agony." "I like a look of Agony."

Death:Death: Many readers have been intrigued Many readers have been intrigued by Dickinson's ability to probe the fact of by Dickinson's ability to probe the fact of human death. She often adopts the pose of human death. She often adopts the pose of having already died before she writes her having already died before she writes her lyric. She can look straight at approaching lyric. She can look straight at approaching deathdeath

Structural PatternsStructural Patterns

Major pattern is that of a sermon: Major pattern is that of a sermon: statement or introduction of topic, statement or introduction of topic, elaboration, and conclusion. There are three elaboration, and conclusion. There are three variations of this major pattern: variations of this major pattern:

1. The poet makes her initial announcement 1. The poet makes her initial announcement of topic in an unfigured line.of topic in an unfigured line.

2. She uses a figure for that purpose.2. She uses a figure for that purpose. 3. She repeats her statement and its 3. She repeats her statement and its

elaboration a number of times before elaboration a number of times before drawing a conclusion. drawing a conclusion.

Poem AppreciationPoem Appreciation

SuccessSuccess Emily Dickinson thought that she had never Emily Dickinson thought that she had never

achieved success and considered failure her achieved success and considered failure her constant companion. But she really wished constant companion. But she really wished for success and believed that only those who for success and believed that only those who never achieved success value it most and never achieved success value it most and counted it sweetest.counted it sweetest.

The poem also expresses a sense of distance. The poem also expresses a sense of distance. The thing that one has experienced will not The thing that one has experienced will not leave a deep impression in his or her mind. leave a deep impression in his or her mind. Only does one keep a distance from what he Only does one keep a distance from what he or she wishes he or she will feel it most and or she wishes he or she will feel it most and therefore knows its value and real worth.therefore knows its value and real worth.

Success is counted sweetestSuccess is counted sweetest By those who ne’er succeed.By those who ne’er succeed. To comprehend a nectarTo comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need.Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple hostNot one of all the purple host Who took the flag todayWho took the flag today Can tell the definition,Can tell the definition, So clear, of victory,So clear, of victory,

As he, defeated, dying, As he, defeated, dying, On whose forbidden earOn whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumphThe distant strains of triumph Break, agonized and clear.Break, agonized and clear.

I Taste A Liquor Never BrewedI Taste A Liquor Never Brewed

Emily Dickinson was greatly influenced by Emerson’s Emily Dickinson was greatly influenced by Emerson’s transcendentalism. She had a profound love for nature transcendentalism. She had a profound love for nature and was often intoxicated with the beauty of nature. and was often intoxicated with the beauty of nature. The following poem is a fine example. The poet The following poem is a fine example. The poet compares nature to liquor that has never been brewed compares nature to liquor that has never been brewed and herself to a debauchee who loves wine more than and herself to a debauchee who loves wine more than her life. The image the poet uses to suggest her life. The image the poet uses to suggest drunkenness epitomizes her deep love for nature. drunkenness epitomizes her deep love for nature.

I taste a liquor never brewed,I taste a liquor never brewed, From tankards scooped in pearl;From tankards scooped in pearl; Not all the vast upon the RhineNot all the vast upon the Rhine Yield such an alcohol!Yield such an alcohol!

Inebriate of air am I,Inebriate of air am I, And debauchee of dew,And debauchee of dew, Reeling, through endless summer days,Reeling, through endless summer days, From inns of molten blue.From inns of molten blue.

When landlords turn the drunken beeWhen landlords turn the drunken bee Out of the foxglove’s door,Out of the foxglove’s door, When butterflies renounce their drams,When butterflies renounce their drams, I shall but drink the more!I shall but drink the more!

Till seraphs swing their snowy hats,Till seraphs swing their snowy hats, And saints to windows run,And saints to windows run, To see the little tippler To see the little tippler Leaning against the sun!Leaning against the sun!

I’m Nobody! Who Are You?I’m Nobody! Who Are You?

Although the following poem is short, only Although the following poem is short, only consisting of two stanzas, the image is clear and consisting of two stanzas, the image is clear and vivid and pregnant with meaning and it calls for vivid and pregnant with meaning and it calls for deep thought. The poem might explain the reason deep thought. The poem might explain the reason why Emily Dickinson preferred solitude to public why Emily Dickinson preferred solitude to public life and was contented to become a recluse and life and was contented to become a recluse and stayed away from the bustle and clamorous society stayed away from the bustle and clamorous society which she thought to be material-oriented and which she thought to be material-oriented and fame-driven. fame-driven.

The poem sketches three different types of The poem sketches three different types of people: nobody, somebody and snobs. Clearly people: nobody, somebody and snobs. Clearly the poet identifies herself with nobody who the poet identifies herself with nobody who she thought to be simple and honest. The self-she thought to be simple and honest. The self-important somebody is always boasting and important somebody is always boasting and advertising just like a frog and the snob advertising just like a frog and the snob admires him as a bog admires the frog whose admires him as a bog admires the frog whose mere merit is to blow his own trumpet and mere merit is to blow his own trumpet and indulge in self-glorification. indulge in self-glorification.

I’m nobody! Who are you?I’m nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?Are you nobody, too? Then there’s a pair of us ---- don’t tell!Then there’s a pair of us ---- don’t tell! They’d banish us. You know.They’d banish us. You know.

How dreary to be somebody!How dreary to be somebody! How public, like a frogHow public, like a frog To tell your name the livelong dayTo tell your name the livelong day To an admiring bog!To an admiring bog!

Mark Twain (1835-1910)Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835–1910.

He was an American author,a humorist, narrator, and social observer.

Twain is unsurpassed in American literature.

His novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a masterpiece of humor, characterization, and realism,

has been called the first (and sometimes the best) modern American novel.   

After the death of his father in 1847, young Clemens was apprenticed to a printer in Hannibal, Mo., the Mississippi River town where he spent most of his boyhood.

He first began writing for his brother’s newspaper there, and later he worked as a printer in several major Eastern cities.

In 1857, Clemens went to New Orleans on his way to make his fortune in South America, but instead he became a Mississippi River pilot—hence his pseudonym, “Mark Twain,” which was the river call for a depth of water of two fathoms.

The Civil War put an end to river traffic, and in 1862 Clemens went W to Carson City, Nev., where he failed in several get-rich-quick schemes.

He eventually began writing for the Virginia City Examiner and later was a newspaperman in San Francisco.

Soon the humorist “Mark Twain” emerged, a writer of tall tales and absurd anecdotes.

He first won fame with the comic masterpiece “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” first published in 1865 in the New York Saturday Press and later (1867) used as the title piece for a volume of stories and sketches.

When he returned from a trip to Hawaii financed by the Sacramento Union in 1866, Twain became a successful humorous lecturer.

He set out world tour, traveling in France and Italy. His experiences were recorded in 1869 in The Innocents Abroad, which gained him wide popularity, and poked fun at both American and European prejudices and manners.

Its success gave Twain enough financial security to marry Olivia Langdon in 1870. They moved next year to Hartford., where the family remained, with occasional trips abroad, until 1891.

Huckleberry Finn (1884) was first considered adult fiction. Huck Finn, which painted a picture of Mississippi frontier life, was intended as a sequel to Tom Sawyer. Huck, who could not possibly write a story, tells us the story.

Both works stand high on the list of eminent writers like Stevenson, Dickens who honestly depicted young people without any condescension or moralizing.

In the 1890s Twain lost most of his earnings in financial speculations and in the downhill of his own publishing firm.

Twain closed Hartford house, and to recover from the bankrupt, he started a world lecture tour, during which Suzy, his favorite daughter, died of meningitis.

Twain toured New Zealand, Australia, India, and South Africa, and returned to the U.S. in 1900.

The death of his wife in 1904 in Florence and his second daughter darkened the author's later years, which is also seen in writings and his posthumously published autobiography (1924).

Twain died on April 21, 1910.

His Major works 1.The Notorious Jumping Frog of

Calaveras County (1865) 2.Innocents Abroad (1869) 3.Roughing It (1872) 4.The Gilded Age (with Charles Dudley

waenner,1873) 5.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)

6. A Tramp Abroad (1880) 7. The Prince and the Pauper (1882) 8.Life on the Mississippi (1883) 9.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) 10.The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894) 11. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

(1889) 12. The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg (1900) 13.What Is Man? (1906)

14. The Mysterious Stranger (1916) 15. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc

(1896) 16. Following the Equator (1897)

The Mississippi River

"Half twain! Quarter twain! M-a-r-k twain!”

For most people, the name "Mark Twain" is virtually synonymous with the life along the Mississippi River immortalized in the author's writing. Clemens first signed his writing with the name in February 1863, as a newspaper reporter in Nevada.

"Mark Twain" (meaning "Mark number two") was a Mississippi River term: the second mark on the line that measured depth signified two fathoms, or twelve feet—safe depth for the steamboat.

In 1857, at the age of twenty-one, he became a "cub" steamboat pilot. The Civil War ended that career four years later by halting all river traffic.

Although Clemens never again lived in the Mississippi valley, he returned to the river in his writing throughout his life. And he visited a number of times, most notably in 1882 as he prepared to write Life on the Mississippi, his fullest and most autobiographical account of the region and its inhabitants, and again in 1902 when he made his final visit to the scenes of his childhood.

Life on the Mississippi 0riginally published in 1883, Life on the

Mississippi is Mark Twain's memoir of his youthful years as a cub pilot on a steamboat paddling up and down the Mississippi River.

Twain used his childhood experiences growing up along the Mississippi in a number of works, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but nowhere is the river and the pilot's life more thoroughly described than in this work.

Told with insight, humor, and candor, Life on the Mississippi is an American classic.

Life on the Mississippi is Mark Twain’s memoir of his youthful years as a cub pilot on a steamboat paddling up and down the Mississippi River.

Twain used his childhood experiences growing up along the Mississippi in a number of works, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

but nowhere is the river and the pilot's life more thoroughly described than in this work

Told with insight, humor, and candor, Life on the Mississippi is an American classic

Book Review

Life On the Mississippi is perhaps his middle-aged, nostalgic look-back to the long gone days of his youth.

Twain looks back from a distance of twenty years, back to his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River.

From 1857 to 1861 Twain learned and worked and lived on steamboats traveling the river from St. Louis to New Orleans.

Yet a mere twenty years later, he must have surely recognized that the 'glory days' of the steamboat on the Mississippi were already gone, for him and for his country

Life on the Mississippi is full of stories. Stories of the geological history and the

discovery and exploration of the river by man.

Stories of Twain's early days as a boy on the river and the characters known and admired or censured from those early days.

Stories from his days living and working on the river, as a 'cub pilot', as a respected working pilot,

and—returning twenty years later—as a visitor seeing for himself the changes wrought on the river.

Stories of the changes produced by the hand of man, straightening and deepening and channeling the river; changes forced by the development of tow-boats and railroads; changes perhaps best seen from the distance of time.

Stephen Crane (1871-1900)

American author, whose second book, The Red Badge of Courage (1895), brought him international fame.

Crane's first novel, Maggie:

A Girl of the Streets,

was a milestone in the

development of literary

naturalism.

life Stephen Crane was the youngest of fourteen

children. His father was a strict Methodist minister,

who died in 1880, leaving his devout, strong mother to raise the rest of the family.

Crane lasted through preparatory school, but spent less than two years in college, excelling at Syracuse in baseball and partying far more than academics.

After leaving school, he went to live in New York, doing freelance writing and working on his first book Maggie, A Girl of the Streets.

His times in New York City were split between his apartment in the Bowery slum in Manhattan and well-off family in the nearby town of Port Jervis.

Crane published Maggie in 1893 at his own expense.

He published The Red Badge of Courage in 1895, The Red Badge was quite different from Maggie in style and approach, and brought Crane international fame and quite a bit of money.

Bolstered by the success of The Red Badge and his book of poetry The Black Riders, Crane became subsumed with ideas of war.

He was hired to go to Cuba as a journalist to report on the rebellion there against the Spanish.

On the way to the island, Crane was in a shipwreck, from which

he was originally reported

dead.

He rowed to shore in a dinghy, along with three other men, having to swim to shore and drop his money in the sea to prevent from drowning.

This experience directly led to his most famous short story "The Open Boat" (1897).

For various reasons, Crane stopped writing novels during this time and moved primarily to short stories probably because they could sell in magazines better but also because he was constantly moving.

When staying in Jacksonville,

Florida, he met the owner of

a brothel, Cora Taylor.

Cora, by chance, had just been reading his novel George's Mother. When she presented the book to Crane for his autograph, he inscribed it "To an unnamed sweetheart."

This meeting was the beginning of a love affair and she accompanied him to Greece as he reported on the Greco-Turkish War for New York newspapers; and stayed with him until the end of his life.

At this point, rumors abounded about Crane, few of them good.

There was talk of drug addiction, rampant promiscuity, and even Satanism, none of them true.

Crane was disgusted with them and eventually relocated to England.

After reporting on the Spanish-American War, Crane returned home to England.

He then drove himself deeply into debt by throwing huge, expensive parties.

While he could now count Joseph Conrad, H. G. Wells, and other

authors in his circle, most

people sponged off of Crane

and his lavishness.

He worked on a novel about the Greek War and continued writing short stories and poetry, at this point to pay off his large debts.

The stress of this life, compounded by an almost blatant disregard for his own health, led to his contracting tuberculosis.

He died while in Baden, Germany, trying to recover from this illness.

He was not yet 29 years old.

His Major Works Novels Active Service 1899 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets 1893 The Red Badge of Courage 1895 The Little Regiment  1896 The O’Ruddy 1903 The third Violet 1897

Short Stories The Open Boat 1898 The Monster 1899 Wilomville Stories 1900 Men, Women and Boats 1921 Poems The Black Riders 1895 War is Kind 1899 Historical book Great Battles of the War 1901

Major Themes In his themes and styles, Crane is an

avant-garde writer. Crane writes about extreme experiences

that are confronted by ordinary people. His characters are not larger-than-life, but

they touch the mysterious edges of their capacities for perception, action, and understanding.

The New York City sketch, "A Detail," was reprinted in 1898 with "The Open Boat," and the two works express parallel naturalistic themes.

In both, individuals are shown to struggle for communication while being buffeted by tumultuous forces.

Significant Style

Crane's works reflect many of the major artistic concerns at the end of the nineteenth century, especially naturalism, impressionism, and symbolism.

His works insist that we live in a universe of vast and indifferent natural forces, not in a world of divine providence or a certain moral order. "A Man Said to the Universe" is useful in identifying this aspect of Crane.

Crane's vivid and explosive prose styles distinguish his works from those by many other writers who are labeled naturalists.

Many readers (including Hamlin Garland and Joseph Conrad, who were personal friends of Crane) have used the term impressionist to describe Crane's vivid renderings of moments of visual beauty and uncertainty.

Even Crane's "discontinuous" rendering of action has been identified as impressionist.

The red Badge of Courage Commonly considered Stephen Crane's

greatest accomplishment, The Red Badge of Courage (1895) ranks among the foremost literary achievements of the modern era.

When Crane signed a contract with D. Appleton and Co. to publish Red Badge, he was not well-known enough to command an advance, and agreed to a flat 10 per cent royalty on the retail price of all copies sold.

Published in the autumn of 1895, Red Badge went through two editions before the end of the year.

By March of 1896 the novel was in eighth place on the international booksellers' list and had gone through fourteen printings; remarkably enough, Red Badge has never been out of print.

With the publication of Red Badge, Crane achieved almost overnight celebrity.

Character List Henry Fleming   The novel’s protagonist; a young soldier

fighting for the Union army during the American Civil War. Initially, Henry stands untested in battle and questions his own courage.

As the novel progresses, he encounters hard truths about the experience of war, confronting the universe’s indifference to his existence and the insignificance of his own life.

Often vain and holding extremely romantic notions about himself, Henry grapples with these lessons as he first runs from battle, then comes to thrive as a soldier in combat.

Jim Conklin  Henry’s friend; a tall soldier hurt during

the regiment’s first battle. Jim soon dies from his wounds, and represents, in the early part of the novel, an important moral contrast to Henry.

Wilson  A loud private; Henry’s friend in the

regiment. Wilson and Henry grow close as they share the harsh experiences of war and gain a reputation as the regiment’s best fighters.

The tattered soldier  A twice-shot soldier whom Henry encounters

in the column of wounded men. With his endless speculation about Henry’s supposed wound, the tattered soldier functions as a nagging, painful conscience to Henry.

The lieutenant  Henry’s commander in battle, a youthful

officer who swears profusely during the fighting. The lieutenant develop sympathy for each other, often feeling that they must work together to motivate the rest of the men.

Henry’s mother  Encountered only in a brief flashback,

Henry’s mother opposed his enlisting in the army.

Though her advice is only briefly summarized in Henry’s flashback, it contains several difficult themes with which Henry must grapple, including the insignificance of his life in the grand scheme of the world.

Major Themes

Courage Given the novel’s title, it is no surprise

that courage—defining it, desiring it, and, ultimately, achieving it—is the most salient element of the narrative.

Manhood Throughout the novel, Henry struggles to

preserve his manhood, his understanding of which parallels his understanding of courage.

Self-Preservation An anxious desire for self-preservation

influences Henry throughout the novel. The Universe’s Disregard for Human Life Henry’s realization that the natural world

spins on regardless of the manner in which men live and die is perhaps the most difficult lesson that Henry learns as a soldier.

Youth and Maturity Although the novel spans no more than a few

weeks, the reader witnesses a profound change in the characters of both Henry and Wilson.

3. Henry James 3. Henry James (1843-1916)(1843-1916)

• novelist, novelist, literary critic, literary critic, playwright playwright and essayistand essayist

1) Works1) Works

• Daisy Miller Daisy Miller 18791879• The American The American 18771877• The Portrait of a Lady The Portrait of a Lady

18811881• The Bostonians 1886The Bostonians 1886• The Princess Casamassima The Princess Casamassima

1886 1886

1865-1881 international novel/theme

1882-1895 tales of inter-personal

relationships.

• ““ What Maisie Knew” 1897 What Maisie Knew” 1897

• The Wings of the Dove 1902The Wings of the Dove 1902• The Ambassadors The Ambassadors 1903 1903• The Golden Bowl 1904 The Golden Bowl 1904 • ““The Art of Fiction”The Art of Fiction”

1895-1916 novellas and tales dealing with

childhood and adolescence; international novel

Literary criticism

2) Life2) Life• Henry James was born into a wealthy Henry James was born into a wealthy

cultured family of New England.cultured family of New England.• His father, Henry James, Sr. was an His father, Henry James, Sr. was an

eminent philosopher and reformer, eminent philosopher and reformer, and his brother, William James, was to and his brother, William James, was to be the famous philosopher and be the famous philosopher and psychologist.psychologist.

• Henry James was one of the few Henry James was one of the few authors in American literary history authors in American literary history who did not have to worry about who did not have to worry about money. money.

• He was exposed to the cultural He was exposed to the cultural influence of Europe ate a very influence of Europe ate a very early age.early age.

• Later he met and developed a Later he met and developed a life-long friendship with William life-long friendship with William Dean Howells.Dean Howells.

• For a while he attended the For a while he attended the Harvard Law School.Harvard Law School.

• He toured England, He toured England, France and Italy, and France and Italy, and met Flaubert and met Flaubert and Trugenev who was Trugenev who was then staying in Paris. then staying in Paris.

• He settled down in He settled down in London in 1876 and London in 1876 and spent the rest of his spent the rest of his life there. In 1915, he life there. In 1915, he became a naturalized became a naturalized British citizen.British citizen.

3) Evaluation3) Evaluation

• Henry James was a prolific writer. He Henry James was a prolific writer. He composed novels, travel papers, composed novels, travel papers, critical essays, literary portraits, critical essays, literary portraits, plays, autobiographies and a series of plays, autobiographies and a series of critical prefaces on the art of fiction.critical prefaces on the art of fiction.

• Henry James produced a number of Henry James produced a number of international novels. He was international novels. He was fascinated with his “international fascinated with his “international theme”.theme”.

• Daisy Miller won him international Daisy Miller won him international fame.fame.

• The last 3 ones represent the The last 3 ones represent the summit of his art.summit of his art.

• James’ contribution to literary James’ contribution to literary criticism is immense.criticism is immense.

• In his whole writing career James In his whole writing career James was concerned with “point of view” was concerned with “point of view” which is at the center of his which is at the center of his aesthetic of the novel. The author aesthetic of the novel. The author should avoid artificial omniscience should avoid artificial omniscience as much as possible.as much as possible.

• He is, today, a world He is, today, a world literary figure, one of the literary figure, one of the “largest” to come out of “largest” to come out of America during the 19th America during the 19th century and the early 20th century and the early 20th century, a remarkable New century, a remarkable New World bridge.World bridge.